It isn't exactly Walt Disney. In fact, the animation is
primitive and the characters not likely to inspire a series of
spin-off merchandise. Still, the Iranian cartoon TV version of
American history - all told in 11 minutes - certainly knows how to
get its point across that the United States is murderous, rapacious
and to be feared.

From the representation of a goofy-looking Christopher Columbus to
an Iraq-invading and equally goofy Uncle Sam, the cartoon is a
history of death and destruction. The character of Uncle Sam does
away with his enemies, one at a time - be they Native Americans,
buffaloes, Japanese, Vietnamese, Iraqis, Afghans or Soviets. And
one at a time, their heads end up on the wall as trophies on his
ranch.

Crude as the propaganda is, anyone watching this stuff in Iran is
likely to have his view of the United States confirmed. And thanks
to the public service provided by memritv.org, Americans can now
also catch glimpses of the kinds of programs that roll across the
television screens in the Middle East. It can make for pretty
depressing viewing. It is not unlike something Michael Moore might
have produced.

Some people clearly have no problem seeing the value of such
information warfare, though it sometimes appears these days that
the U.S. government has a blind spot when it comes to engaging in
the battle of images and information - even as we are looking at
the shut down of numerous Voice of America programs, including the
English-language service. This will happen if budget cuts contained
in the State Department authorization bill are allowed to stand. At
this time, Voice of America itself does not broadcast into the
Middle East (though a number if semi-official so-called surrogate
broadcasting services do).

On July 2, Iran also opened up an English language news channel,
broadcasting to the United States. This mind-boggling initiative in
a twisted kind of way mirrors efforts by the U.S. government to
educate ordinary Iranians. The channel says on its Web site (
www.presstv.ir) that it aims "to break the global media
stranglehold of Western outlets." However, instead of feeding their
viewers a diet of fact-based reporting, it is based on distortion
and lies about this country and its leadership. Iranian television
thus joins Al Jazeera, which started its English-language
broadcasts last year.

Now, this all media activity also happens at a time when terrorist
groups are becoming increasingly media savvy. Just how
sophisticated these efforts have become is detailed in a new
special report that was released in June by Radio Liberty/Radio
Free Europe. The report is titled "Iraqi Insurgent Media: The War
of Images and Ideas" and it makes for absolutely chilling
reading.

The report finds that Sunni insurgents in Iraq and their
supporters are engaged in a massive media campaign through the
Internet to reach the best educated and savvy segment of the
population in Arab countries. And jihadists have far more than the
Internet at their disposal. Through the Arab media (sometimes even
the Western media), which rebroadcasts their images and message,
they have great reach throughout the region, where their message is
lapped up. The broadcasts can, for instance, be recruitment videos,
including interrogations or executions. In some cases, suicide or
car bombings are evidently staged for the benefit of the camera -
making the video itself the weapon in a war of terror. The medium
can be anything from the text of a book to blogs and message boards
to streaming video and audio.

Also distressing, but not surprising anymore, is the conclusion of
the report. In this war of ideas, there is little to counter this
torrent of propaganda. Yet, it is not without its weaknesses, which
we ought to be able to exploit. For one thing, there is a lack of
coordination and message control, and secondly there is a growing
rift between homegrown nationalist groups and al Qaeda
affiliates.

It will take coordination of U.S. government assets, a lot of
patience and above all funding to bring our own efforts at idea
warfare up to the challenge we face. We could start by saving Voice
of America - the main organ of the U.S. government in communicating
with the world - from the budget cuts and committing additional
resources. If our enemies can see how important this is, can't
we?

Helle Daleis
director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy
Studies at the Heritage Foundation.